In 1932, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to Sigmund Freud about the problem of war. From there began a long-standing famous correspondence which is a debate on the link between humanity and war, from which the Israeli director builds his new film Why War.
In it, two actors perform these letters in a theatre and the actress Irene Jacob performs a physical and gestural performance about war conflicts.
Given the current context, many associated the war in Gaza that began with the Hamas attack on Israel.
Gitai, already known for his critical approach towards Israel, recently faced an attempted boycott of the film, which is scheduled to be screened at the Venice Film Festival.
The film was scheduled to premiere on Saturday night, but was the subject of a letter signed by more than 300 artists accusing the film's Israeli production companies of being complicit in “apartheid, occupation and now genocide” through their silence or active participation in the art washing.
Among those who signed the petition were Italian filmmaker Alessandra Ferrini and Nazareth-born filmmaker Hany Abu Assad.
However, at a press conference on August 31, Gitai rejected the criticism: “The idea of the film is not centered on Israel and Palestine, as it is not the only conflict on the planet.”
He is a traitorous Jew, let him eat it